Marxist Criticism To Age Of Innocence Literature Assignment

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Marxist Criticism of the Age of Innocence
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is based on a frustrated life of three women who are trapped in relationship tangle and a confined social environment. There is a vivid conflict between social and individual fulfillment based on Marxist feminist criticism. On one aspect, women are oppressed by their male partners in the pursuit of their own freedom and happiness as they are supposed to be submissive to the dominant patriarchal norms. On another aspect, women are prone to persecution due to the patriarchal system and capitalism, hence are victims of the rigid social setup which makes them lose their pursuit for power. Thus, Marxist feminist criticism reveals women as secondly placed in the society who should be submissive to their husbands in the society dominated by male chauvinism.
Social class and economics are vividly portrayed by Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence especially the upper class and its improper solicit coupled with debauchery. The author concentrates on social change in the Victorian virtues and the expectation of women in the society. Wharton reveals the plight of women in the Old New York society who are forced to comply with the societal role of women's subjectivity which includes mannerism, popular fashions and behaviors (Wharton 845). However, women in the society who object to such norms are exiled and scorned. In addition, the economics is revealed through the portrayal of material objects such as furniture, fashion whereby each object has an important relationship to the owner. Furthermore, the society exhibits a personal wealth which is gratuitously shown. The objects reflect the economic status of their owners which further reveal the personality of their owners' value...